W.H.: We have a spending problem

White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Washington does have a spending problem and the main driver of that problem is health-care costs.

The remarks followed a statement by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Sunday that "It is almost a false argument to say we have a spending problem."

"Of course the president believes that we have a spending problem," Carney said at a White House briefing, adding that the problem "is specifically driven by -- and I think every economist worth, whose insights into this area are worth the paper on which his or her PhD is printed, would tell you that -- the principle driver, when it comes to spending, of our deficits and debt, are, is health care spending. And that’s just a fact.

"What is also a fact is that we have reduced nondefefnse discretionary spending to its lowest level as a percentage of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president."

Pelosi said on "Fox News Sunday" that there have been "plenty of cuts" and that the economy needs investments to foster growth. She echoed President Obama's call for more revenue to help balance further cuts.

Carney said Obama has acted to eliminate wasteful spending, including proposing to Congress the merging and streamlining of agencies -- something Congress has yet to approve.

"But the fact of the matter is we need to reduce our health care costs. Funnily enough, recognizing that fact, the president took action to do just that through the Affordable Care Act, which has been scored by the CBO to significantly reduce our health care costs going forward," he said. "Going forward, we need to do more."

Carney, in a break from Pelosi and other House Democrats, said Monday that Obama is open to cutting some entitlement benefits as part of a larger budget deal, specifically noting the formula used to calculate government benefits known as chained CPI. He said Obama is not open to raising the eligibility age for Medicare.

"The president has put foward entitlement reforms that would further reduce our health care costs," he said. "What he doesn’t believe is that we need to simply shift our health care costs onto seniors, basically say 'We've got a problem that is now yours, Mr. 75-year-old American or Mrs. 75-year-old American.' He believes that we ought to reduce these costs and not shift them onto seniors."